Machine for sorting out letters and other documents



M. FRANols Nov. 6,4 1962 MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10. 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 1 LL.. JA.

M. FRANols Nov. 6, 1962 MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10. 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. FRANCOIS Nov. s, 1962 MACHINE FOR SORTING `OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10, 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 3 B f (71 21m 275 1 www. 4 6 2 Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10. 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANcols 3,062,391

MACHINE FoR soRTTNG oUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10, 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 5 avooannnno Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10, 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 6 lign Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FoR soRTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 10. 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet '7 j /l 1T2/ 117/174 182 Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR sORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 1o, 1959 12 sheets-sheet 8 Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June lO. 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 9 2oz 2 3 amos 20s 2oz 203 202 203 @l @@WQWQI@ 2 2o 20s A K KL Ke1 il Lx Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANcols 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June 1o, 1959 12 sheets-sheet 1o Nov. 6, 1962 M. FRANCOIS 3,062,391

MACHINE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Filed June l0, 1959 12 Sheets-Sheet 11 M. FRANCOIS Nov. 6, 1962 12 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed June 10, 1959 K w s .wr K m a .ww O w United States Patent Oiee 3,@629l Patented Nov. t5, 1962 3,062,391 MACIWE FOR SORTING OUT LETTERS ANI) OTHER DOCUMENTS Marcel Franois, Chatenay-Malabry, France, assignor to 1LllotchkissBrandt, Paris, France, a corporation of .t rance Filed .lune 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,328 Claims priority, application France June 13, 1958 16 Claims. (Cl. 214-11) The present invention relates to machines for sorting out letters, or any other documents which are similar to letters as to their shape, according to their destination or any other criterion.

For ease and clarity of description, reference will be made hereinafter only to letters, this term being intended to embrace in a general manner any document to be sorted out.

A type of machine is known `for sorting out letters which are supplied in any order to at least one station provided with an operator who reads the addresses one by one. This operator has at his disposal a keyboard whereby, on lthe one hand, he causes each letter to fall into one of a series of moving conveying pockets each of which is provided with an index means, and, on the other hand, he establishes, in accordance with a predetermined code which is a function of the sorting out to be effected, and through the medium of a fixed indexing device in front of which the index means of the pockets pass, an indexing or coding of each pocket as a function of the destination of the letter received by this pocket, whereby the pockets, in thereafter passin-g in front of fixed containers each of which pertains to a given destination, release the letters in the required containers in accordance with the established individual indexing or coding.

In known machines of this type, the movement of the pockets is related to the more or less variable rhythm or rate of work of the operator or operators and is therefore essentially irregular; the machine has therefore a relatively low output.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved machine of the aforementioned type for sorting out letters and other documents similar to letters as to their shapes and a certain rigidity enabling them to stand upright on one of their edges, this machine remedying the disadvantages of known machines and in particular considerably increasing the normal rate of work, which rate could for one operator attain and even exceed 4,000 letters or documents per hour.

This is made possible by the fact that the improved machine comprises in combination: a single endless distributing conveyor to which is imparted a continuous uniform movement in the course of which it passes by each operator station and on which are mounted cups each of which is provided for the individual conveyance of a document to be sorted out, a device located at each operator station for regulating the feed of the documents to said cups so as to conciliate the arrhythmic rate of the operations effected by the operator with the continuous and uniform movement of the conveyor by temporarily storing or holding back at least one document from the sorting out circuit if the arrhythmic rate of the operator is momentarily higher than his normal rate and, inversely, by restoring said document to the sorting out circuit as soon as the rate of the operator drops below said normal rate, and means constituting a memory for storing and then restoring the value of the code emitted by the operator for said document so as to index the cup which subsequently receives said document after its restoration to the sorting out circuit.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which the invention is in no way limited.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic front elevational vie-w, with a part cut away, of a machine for sorting out letters or other documents improved in accordance with the invention, this machine having a plurality of stations each of which is controlled by one operator;

FIG. Z is a corresponding plan view of the machine;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the machine with a part out away;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the machine;

IIG. 5 is a partial view of the machine on an enlarged sca e;

FIG. 6 is a view -of the carriage, forming a plurality of cups each of which pertains to one of the operators, and supports for this carriage;

FIG. 7 is a lateral View of the carriage with a partial sectional View taken along line 7 7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view on an enlarged scale of one of the carriages taken along line S-S of FIG. 6 through the locking device of the pivoting bottom of one of the cups;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 9 9 of FIG. 7, on an enlarged scale, of the part of the index means corresponding to one of the cups of one of the carriages;

FIG. l0 is a vertical diagrammatic sectional view taken along line lll-10 of FIG. 2, on an enlarged scale, of one of the operator stations;

FIG. ll is a plan view, with parts cut away, of the station shown in FIG. l0;

FIG. l?. is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of a part of FIG. l0;

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic vertical sectional view, taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 2 on the same scale as FIGS. l() and ll of the whole of the lower part of the machine;

FIG. 14 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line lle- I4 of FIG. 10;

FIG. l5 is a diagram of the control circuits of the relays of the coding keys and of the arrhythmic cycle rotary shaft of one of the operator stations;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of the electrical connections relating to the possible regulation of the feed of the letters by a temporary storage thereof;

FIGS. 17, 18 and I9 show three successive positions of the letter storing device;

IFIG. 2O is a diagram of the electrical connections in an operator station relating to the conversion into electromagnetic form of the code tapped out by the operator on the keyboard;

FIG. 21 is a similar diagram of the circuits for regulating and storing the code in electromagnetic form;

FIG. 22 is a view of a modication of the device regulating the feed of the letters or other documents;

FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram pertaining to the regulation of the feed of the letters with the modification shown in FIG. 22, and

FIG. 24 is a circuit diagram relating to the temporary letter storage circuit.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINE SHOWN IN FIGS. l-20 According to this embodiment, the machine consists of (FIGS. 1-3) a large filing cabinet A, in which the letters or other documents must be filed in accordance with their destinations, and, on the front side of this cabinet, operator stations B at each of which is stationed an operator who receives at L1 (FIGS. l, 2 and 10) stacks of letters assembled with no regard -to their destination. The

operator reads off the destination or address of each letter and, by a manual operation which is accomplished rapidly but more or less arrhythmically, directs them to the cabinet A where they are filed or classified at L7 (FIG. 4) according to their destinations.

A detailed description will now be given of the tiling cabinet A, of an operator station B and of the various electromagnetic devices pertaining to this station.

(a) Cabinet A and the Equipment Theren (FIGS. 1-9) This cabinet has a rectangular-sided box shape and comprises a front wall 1, a top wall 2 and a rear wall 3. The walls 1 and 2 could be non-apertured walls. The rear wall 3 is open in that it comprises four large longitudinally extending horizontal openings 4 each of which gives access to the top side of a shelf 5 and to the cornpartments 6 provided on these shelves. There are therefore four superimposed rows of compartments 6.

Each of these compartments has such width, in the longitudinal direction of the machine, as to be capable of receiving, successively and flat on top of each other, the letters L7 (FiG. 4) which have a common destination. The compartments are defined on the front side of the cabinet by the wall `1 and are separated from each other by vertical transverse common partitions 7 (FIGS. 4 and 5). The upper portions of these partitions are preferably inclined or curved in the same direction in each row, the inclinations being in opposite directions from one row to the next. The compartments are fully open at the rear of the cabinet so as to permit an easy manual extraction of the piles of letters L"l which were deposited therein in the course of sorting out.

The component walls of 4the cabinet A are, of course, reinforced by, for example, section steels in the form of uprights, longitudinal members, cross-members and stiifening members. These various reinforcing members have not been shown in the drawings except for the rear uprights 8 provided against the rear wall 3 (FIGS. 4 and 5).

At both ends the cabinet A is extended by two ver-tical cases 9 and 10.

Movable within the cabinet A is an endless conveyor having cups for conveying the letters from the stations B and depositing them in the compartments 6. This conveyor comprises two chains 11 which are disposed in parallel in such manner that each has six longitudinally extending portions (FIGS. 1 and 4), this being obtained by passing these chains, on the one hand, round three pairs of driving wheels or sprockets 12 disposed in the case 9, and, on the other hand, round four pairs of return wheels or sprockets 13 located in the case 10. The sprockets 12 are driven by an electric motor 14 (FGS. l and 2) whose shaft 15 has one end connected by a pair of bevel gears 16 to a vertical shaft 17. Keyed on the latter are three worms 18 which mesh with three worm wheels 19, each of which is keyed on the shaft 20 of one of the pairs of sprockets 12. The latter rotate in a clockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 1) so that the ve longitudinally extending portions of the chains between the sprockets move in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 4. The lowest portions of the two chains move in synchronism from the right toward the left substantially at the same level as the lower part of the operator station B, whereas the next upper portions of the two chains, which constitute the return portions, move in the opposite direction, the movement of the intermediate portions alternately changing in direction. lt is these four intermediate portions which are adapted to convey the letters to the compartments 6 oi' the filing cabinet, each portion moving in a plane located a certain distance above the upper ends of these compartments.

it will be observed that for each row, the partitions 7 defining each compartment are deeoted in the direction opposed to the direction of movement of the portion of each chain pertaining to the compartments of this row,

that is, toward the left for the top row (as viewed in FIG. 4), toward the right for the next lower row and so on.

The two chains 11 of the conveyor have links 21 (FIG. 7) articulated together by pins 22, and these two chains carry the active elements of the conveyor, namely, carriages disposed equal distances apart from one another.

Each carriage, generally designated by the reference numeral 23, comprises (FIGS. 6 and 7) a hollow body 24 which has a vertical throughway aperture and is provided with two coaxial journals 25 which also constitute connecting pins for two adjacent links 21a and 2lb of each chain instead of the usual pins 22. The carriage is therefore pivotably suspended from the two chains and it consequently remains horizontal in the vertically extending portions and in the portions of the chains extending round the sprockets 12 and 13.

Each carriage carries four guide rollers 26 adapted to roll between two pairs of rails 27, 23 which are carried by supports 29 xed to the walls 1 and 3 of the cabinet and to their frame (FIGS. 6, 7, Aand 13), these rails being disposed in such manner as to follow the zigzag path of the two chains 11. Further, the carriages Z3 are guided in the transverse direction of the machine by two other rollers 30 having vertical spindles and adapted to roll along the inner facing sides of the two upper rails 28. One end of one of the journals 25 of each carriage carries, at the end of a crank or arm 31 (FIG. 6), a roller 32 adapted to guide the carriage in such manner that the latter remains horizontal when it passes around the sprockets 12 or 13 or passes along the vertically extending portions of the chains 11.

The hollow body 24 of each carriage 23 is provided from bottom to top, as mentioned hereinbefore, with a vertical slot, and the latter is divided by a number of transverse vertical partitions 33 (FIG. 7) into as many vertical cups 34 as there are operator stations B, namely, six in the presently-described embodiment. These cups are shown partially in section in FIG. 7.

Each cup 34 has such length, in the transverse direction of the cabinet, height and width as to be capable lof receiving a letter of the largest size it is contemplated to sort out, disposed in la substantially vertical position.

One cup 34 of each carriage 23 is provided for each of the operator stations B in the same order from one carriage to the other; for example, the first cup from the right of each carriage, as this carriage travels along the lower portion of the conveyor, is provided for the rst station B starting from the right, the second cup for the second station, and so on.

The distance p (FIG. 4) which separates two cups of two consecutive carriages of the same row is constant throughout the length of the conveyor andconstitutes the pitch of the latter.

This pitch p is travelled through in a time T, which constitutes the duration of one cycle of the continuous movement of the machine. Thus, if the output of the machine per operator is 4,000 letters per hour, this duration T is equal to In this case, the cups must succeed one another or, in `other words, must advance a distance corresponding to the pitch p in 0.9 second.

Each cup `34 is open at its upper and lower ends, but the lower end can be closed by a pivotable flap 35 (FIGS. 7 and 8) adapted to act as a retractable bottom which permits, in its active position, supporting the letter until the compartment into which the letter must be dropped is reached, the pivoting of the Hap 3S to the position 35a (FIG. 8) permitting this letter to drop into this compartment.

The ap 35 pertaining to each of the cups 34 is rigid, fas concerns its pivotal movements, with a shaft 36 journalled in the body 24 at the two ends of the corresponding cup.

Laterally, the carriage 23 carries an index means or -unit generally designated by the reference numeral 37.

This index unit 37 is so adapted as to permit a coding of each of the cups 34 so that when the coded unit '37 passes in front of complementary actuating devices 3S (FIGS. 5, 6, 9 and 13) disposed in front of the compartments 6 of the cabinet A, one device 38 being provided per compartment and carried by the wall I of the cabinet, the ap 35 of the cup in question is retracted to the position 35a (FIG. 8) when said cup passes in front of the compartment whose device 38 corresponds to the code recorded for this cup on the index unit 37. Further, the ap 35 is brought back to its operative closing position by the passage of the cup in front of closing devices 39 and 40 (described hereinafter) which are encountered just before the upper return portion of the chains is reached and are mounted on a support 4I carried by the cabinet A.

'For example, the arrangement of the \unit 37 and its combination with the aps 35 of the cups 34 and with the decoding devices 39 and 40, could be as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9.

In this diagrammatic example the shaft 36 of each flap has an extension which extends into a recess 42 (FIG. 6) of the carriage body 24 `and keyed on this extension is a lever 43 (FIGS. 6 and 8) which pivots with the Hap between a closed position shown in full line, corresponding to the closure of the corresponding cup 34, and a position 43a, shown in dot-dash line and corresponding to a fully-opened position of the cup.

The flap 35 and the lever 43 are biased in a direction to open the corresponding cup by la spring 44, and are held in their closed-up positions by an electromagnet 45 whose core 46 is caused to engage and lock in position an abutment portion 4S of a heel 49 of the lever 43 by the action of a return spring 47 when there is no current in the electromagnet.

rl`he opening of each cup by the retraction of the ap 35 to its position 35a thus occurs lin line with the desired compartment 6 of the cabinet A when there is co-operation between the index unit 37 carried by the carriage and the complementary actuating device 38 pertaining to the desired compartment, the latter depending on the coding eected on the unit 37.

The unit 37 comprises a body 50 fixed to the body 24 of the carriage. Horizontally slidable in this body are as many vertical rows of index rods 5I as the carriage comprises cups or compartments, namely, six in the presently-described embodiment (FIG. 7). There are provided in each row as many rods 5I as there are digits provided for the coding, namely, ten in the presently-described embodiment, which are numbered I to X in FIG. 9 starting from the top.

These rods 51 are of a non-conductive material but are provided at the ends thereof disposed in the block 50, which is of insulating material, with a metal portion S2 adapted to cooperate with the adjacent Ibranches of two contact strips 53 which are bent in the form of a V and are disposed in receses 54 in the block Sti. The two end strips are connected to terminals 55 and 56 carried -by the block. The terminal 55 is connected to a fbrush 57 which is carried Eby the unit 37 and rubs along a xed rai-l 58 which carries current and is supported by the supports 29 rigid with the wail I of the cabinet A (FIG. 6). The other terminal 56 is connected to the coil of the electromagnet 45. Thus the latter is excited and the corresponding flap 36 is released `and opened by the spring" 44, when all the index rods 5l have their metal ends 52 engaged ybetween the V-shaped strips 53 and are consequently all in the position of the rods 51 of the rows I, III or X (FIG. 9).

Each rod 5I is biased toward the right (as viewed in FIG. 9) to the extreme positionshown by that of the row II in which the contact S2-53 is opened-by a spring 59. Further, each rod or index 5I comprises a long recess 60 and a short notch 61 `which are interconnected kby a ramp 62 and adapted to co-operate with the upper edge of an aperture 63 formed in a locking plate 64 which is slida'bly mounted in the block Sti and downwardly biased to its operative position by .a spring 65.

The notch 61 has `such position on the rod that when the plate 63 is engaged in this notch, the rod is held in the contact position (that shown by the rods of rows I and X), whereas the recess 6i) permits the rod to move longitudinaly between, on the one hand, the extreme right position (position of the rods in row II) to which it is urged by the spring 59 after unlocking and, on the other hand, an intermediate position (position of the rods of row III) assumed by the rod when the latter encounters a ramp 66 pertaining to the complementary actuating device 38 of the index unit carried Iby the xed part of the cabinet A, namely the support 29 (FIG. 6).

The intermediate position, shown by row III, is such that contact is re-established between the conductive por-` tion 52 of the rod and the adjacent branches of the two successive V-shaped conductors 53.

The cup-closing devices 39 and 40 which are carried by the support 41 (FIGS. 6 and 7) and are encountered just before the upper return portion of the chains (FIG. 4) is reached, are constituted by, firstly, a projection 39 forming a cam and adapted to raise all the locking plates 64 so as to allow the unit rods to assume their outer positions (II) in which the circuit of the electromagnet 45 is interrupted and, secondly, a roller 40 which swings the levers rigid with the flaps from the position 43 to the position 43 in which they are locked by the core 46 and the springs 44 are extended (FIG. 8).

The index units 37 pertaining to the different carriages are combined with indexing devices 67, there being one indexing device per operator station B (FIGS. 1, 2 and 13). Each indexing device is disposed against the front wall 1 of the cabinet A to the right of its corresponding station B, as viewed in FIG. 1.

Each indexing device 67 comprises a vertical row of as many electromagnets 63 as there are rods 51 in each compartment of the carriage, namely, ten in the presentlydescribed embodiment. Each of these electromagnets 68 can be excited in the course of the coding effected -by the operator of the corresponding station B and permits, each time it is excited, shifting the rod 5I of the same row of the cup pertaining to the corresponding station B from the outer position, such as the position II (FIG. 9), to the fully retracted position, such as the position I or X.

It can be seen that after the conjugate cup-closing devices 39 and 40 have been encountered, that is, while each cup and its `carriage travel along the upper return portion of the conveyor and that fraction of the lower portion of the conveyor encountered just before the corresponding operator station B or, more precisely, the corresponding indexing device 67, the index rods 51 pertaining to the coding of this cup are in their outer position corresponding to row II (FIG. 9). The cup is therefore closed as its iiap is in the raised position 35. When it passes in front of the indexing device 67, the cup receives a new coding, that is, one or more rods 51 are brought to their retracted position (I or X) under the eiect of the effect of the electromagnet or electromagnets 6 which lare excited in accordance with the code to be obtained. The retraction of the rods is possible, since the locking plate 64 is raised, in opposition to the action of the spring 65, by the ramps 62 of the rods which are subsequently locked in their contact position by the engagement of the plate 64 in the notches 61.

The corresponding ap 35 is held in its raised position by the core 46, since the other rods 51, which have not received a code, remain in their outer position and maintain the excitation circuit of the electromagnet 45 interrupted. The iiap remains in this position until the moment when, in passing in front of the compartment which corresponds to the code recorded -by the index unit 37, the rod or rods 51 which are in their outer position, such as that of the row II (FIG. 9), are returned by the ramp or ramps 66 of the device 38 to an intermediate position (such as that of the row III), which closes the corresponding contact.

if all the rods in the outer position, such as the position of the row II, are pushed back into the intermediate position, such as that of the row IIII, all the contacts 52, 53 are closed, the electromagnet is excited and the cup is opened.

Consequently, if the compartment 6 corresponds to a given value of the code, the cup of each carriage-which cup pertains to a given operator station B-will open on condition that, firstly, at the station B the indexing device 67 has one or a plurality of electromagnets 63 excited, which push back one or a plurality of rods 51 to their extreme inner position and, secondly, the fixed device 39 in line with the compartment 6 in question comprises ramps 66 in line with all the rods which have not been depressed by the indexing device 67 (in other words, the ramps 66 must correspond to the unexcited electromagnets 63).

The opened cup is thereafter closed just before it reaches the upper return portion of the endless conveyor and the cycle is completed.

(b) Operator Station B (FIGS. 1 3 and 10-14) As already mentioned, each station B is provided with an operator who reads one by one the addresses of the the cabinet A and the walls 71 and 72 perpendicular A to the cabinet A.

At its upper end, the casing is closed by an inclined wall 73 in which is provided a longitudinal channel 7&1 extending up toward the wall 72 in front of which the operator is positioned. This channel 74 is adapted to receive at L1 (FIGS. 1, 2 and l0) packets of letters which are arranged haphazardly as concerns their destinations and must be filed in accordance with these destinations.

Each operator station B has its casing connected by a short connecting portion 75 to a longitudinal housing 76 which extends along the entire front wall 1 of the cabinet A at the base of the latter between the two end cases 9 and 1t). Disposed in this housing, apart from the various electric conductors connecting the stations B to the indexing device 67, is a longitudinal transmission shaft 77 driven by the motor 14 of the endless conveyor, for example through the medium of an extension of the motor shaft and a pair of gears Y78 (FIGS. 1 and 2). This longitudinal shaft drives a transverse shaft 80 in each station B by way of a pair of bevel gears 79. The shaft 3?, which constitutes a first cam shaft of the station B, drives a second cam shaft `81 parallel with the shaft 80, for example by way of a chain y82 and sprockets S3 and S4 (FIGS. l0 and 14).

The two cam shafts 80 and 81 are shafts having a rhythmic movement in that they are driven by the motor 14 (or any other motor which would be in synchronous relation to the motor 14) at uniform speed which is independent of the speed and rhythm of the movements effected by the operator.

The transmissions between the cam shafts 80 and 81 and the motor 14 are such that these shafts effect exactly one rotation (360) in the time T which the endless conveyor takes to move a distance corresponding to the pitch p defined hereinbefore as the distance a cartil) riage must travel through to substitute any one of its cups 34 for the cup of the same row of the carriage which immediately precedes it. The direction of rotation of these shafts is unimportant, out once chosen, the various cams carried by these shafts are set in position accordingly.

Each station B comprises in its upper right part (FIG. 10) a third cam shaft S5 termed an arrhythmic rate shaft. This shaft is driven in such manner as to rotate equally in a uniform manner and to effect a complete rotation, but only each time the operator has effected a compiete coding operation described hereinafter, which coding operation is effected at a variable rate depending on his operational speed.

This shaft 85 is driven in rotation by an electric motor and speed reducer unit 86 whose shaft 87 (FIGS. 10 to l2) is connected by a pair of gears 83 and S9 to an intermediate shaft 90. The latter can be connected to the cam shaft 85 by an electromagnetic clutch 91 (FIG. l1) whose coil 92 cooperates with a plate 93 keyed to the end of the shaft 85. This plate also cooperates with an electric brake 94 having a coil 95 which permits immobilizing the shaft 85 as soon as it ceases to be engaged by the clutch, as will be explained hereinafter.

The transmission between the shaft 85 and the motor 86 is such that this shaft 85, when engaged by the clutch, effects one rotation in a time t which is equal to kT; T being, it will be recalled, the time the conveyor carriage takes to move through a distance corresponding to the pitch p, and k a coefficient which is no more than one. If, for example, T=0.9 sec., k could be equal to so that t=0.6 sec.

Each station B is provided with a keyboard 96 carried outside by the wall 72 in front of which the operator is positioned (FIGS. 1-3, l0, ll and l2). The keyboard has keys 97, two of which the operator must depress successively to compose a code in the conditions explained hereinafter, as the letters to be sorted out pass before him and he reads off their addresses.

It will be recalled that these letters are deposited one behind the other at L1 in the upper channel 74 of the station. Provided in this channel, which is capable of receiving, for example, a thousand letters, placed on edge one behind the other, is a device for moving the letters L1 in the direction of the arrow f1 (FIG. 10). This device consists of an endless conveyor having a plurality of chains 98 in parallel whose upper portions are located Slightly below the base wall 99 of the channel. These chains pass round driving wheels or sprockets 190 keyed on a shaft 161 which is connected by a free-wheel arrangement 1612 (FIG. 11) and a chain or other transmission 103 to a motor and speed-reducer unit 194. At their other ends, the chains 98 pass round wheels or sprockets 105 (FIG. 12). The letters Ll are urged in the direction of arrow f1 by thrust means 1117 carried by the chains. The advance of the latter, obtained by supplying current to the unit 193, is controlled by a switch having a fixed stud 103 and a lever 109 (FIG. l2) which pivots at and is urged against the stud 168 by a spring 111, so that the supply circuit is interrupted as soon as the upper end letter L2 reaches the position shown in FIG. 12, in which it shifts the lever 189 away from the stud 108.

The first letter which is presented at L2 is extracted from the stack of letters I.1 disposed one behind the other by an extracting device disposed in a case 112 at the upper end of the front wall 72 of the station B. This extracting device, which is actuated once in every rotation of the arrhythmic rate cam shaft 85 driven by the shaft 99, can be of any known type. It has therefore not been shown in detail. In the presently-described embodiment, it comprises a sucker 113 carried by a lever 114 which is pivoted about a horizontal axis by the action of a link 115 subjected to the opposing actions of a cam 116' having a boss keyed on the shaft 85 and of a return spring Genesi 117. This device therefore takes hold of the letter at L2 and release it at L3 in the upper part of the vertical passageway through which it falls.

This passageway is formed between two fixed walls 118 and 119 which are parallel with the wall 72. They are interrupted at 120 and continue at 121 in the form of two lower fixed extensions 122 and 123, the space between the parts 120 and 121 permitting the horizontal displacement in the direction of arrows f2 and f3 of a storing device C which stores the letters if the rate of work of the operator is too rapid and restores these letters as soon as this rate drops below the normal rate.

The upper part of the xed passageway comprises three closing flaps 124, 125 and 126 situated at sufficient distances from one another to enable the largest letter to be sorted out to stop between these flaps by bearing against one of them. The upper flap 124 and the intermediate flap 125 are so controlled respectively, through the medium of rods 127 and 128 having return springs 129 and 130, by two cams 131 and 132 having a single boss mounted on the arrhythmic rate cam shaft 85, that these aps swing to their open position once in each full rotation of this shaft.

The lower ap 126 is actuated by an electromagnet 133 once in each arrhythmic rate work cycle pertaining to the operator.

The lower portion of the passageway formed between the two extensions 122 and 123 of the fixed walls comprises two superimposed closing flaps 134 and 135 which are in such positions that each of them is capable of receiving a letter of the largest size. These flaps 134 and 135 are controlled at the rate of the uniform motion of the machine. To this end, each of them is actuated by a rod 136 and 137 biased by a spring 138 or 139 against a cam having a boss 140 or 141. These cams are keyed (FIGS. 10, 12 and 14) on the transmission shaft 80 which, it will be recalled, effects one rotation each time the conveyor carriage advances a distance corresponding to the pitch p in the course of a period T.

As concerns the fixed part of the passageway just described, it should be added that the operator is able to see the address side of each letter which is stopped by the ap 125 owing to the fact that the corresponding portion of the wall 119 is constituted by a window 142. This window is wholly visible in the end of a recess 143 (FIGS. 3, l and l2) in the side of the station B facing the operator. The latter can therefore read olf the addresses of the successive letters when each one of them is located at L4 behind this window.

The storing device C which restores the letters disposed between the upper and lower portions of the fixed vertical passageway is constituted by an assembly of four vertical walls 146 which form therebetween three vertical hoppers 147, 14S and 149, the width of which is equal to that of the fixed vertical passageway. By the horizontal translation of the device C in the direction parallel with the phane of the FIGS. and 12, any one of these three hoppers can be brought in line with the fixed passageway so as to ensure the continuity of this passageway between its upper and lower portions.

These hoppers are closed at their bases by fiaps 156, 151 and 152 each of which is rigid as concerns rotate-ry motion with an individual lever. The three levers are designated by the reference numeral l153 and, depending on the transverse position of the device C, one of them co-operates with the core of a fixed electromagnet 154 which, in moving this lever upwardly, retracts or opens the corresponding flap, which is normally closed by the lever which acts as a counterweight.

The wall 146 nearest the wall 72 of the station B has at its lower end an auxiliary flap 155 controlled by a flap-opening electromagnet 156. This permits putting the hopper 149 in communication with a fixed container 157 provided at the base of the station B and from which any letter which falls therein can be, for reasons ex- 10 plainedherenafter, extracted manually through an opening 158 which is provided at the base of the wall 72 and is ordinarily closed by a door 159 (FIGS. 3, l() and l2).

The moving assembly comprising the three hoppers 147, 14S and 149 and their flaps is moved in translation by the combined actions of two support and guide racks 160 and 161 which are rigid with the walls of these hoppers and are slidable in the frame of the station B, and two pawls 162 and 163 (FIGS. 12 and 6) provided at the ends of the cores 164 and 165 of two electromagnets having coils 166' and 167. Each of the two pawls comprises a ramp 16S or 169 (FIG. 16) which cooperates with a fixed pin 170 or 171 so as to engage it with its corresponding rack when the electromagnet 166 or 167 is excited.

The excitation circuits of the various electromagnets will be described hereinafter.

Each station is provided with conveying means which receives at L6 (FIG. 12) at the base of the vertical passageway any letter released by the opening of the lower ap 135 (FIGS. l0 and l2), conveys it to and drops it into the cup 34 pertaining to the considered operator station B of one of the carriages 23 of the endless conveyor when this cup comes in line with this station in the plane D-D (FIGS. 2, l0 and 11) of symmetry of the vertical passageway and the conveying means.

This conveying means comprises an endless conveyor belt 172 (FIGS. 2 and 10-13) located below the ilap 135 and supported by two rollers 173 and 174. The roller 174 drives the upper portion of the belt in the direction of the belt in the direction of arrow f4, this roller being connected to the shaft 87 of the motor S6 through a chain 175 and sprockets 176 and 177, so that when a letter drops vertically onto the belt 172 at L6 and is guided by the walls 122 and 123 (the ap 125 having been opened), this letter is fed a second conveyor which extends the first-mentioned conveyor.

This second conveyor comprises several pairs of endless belts 17S and 179 whose operative portions adjoin each other in the vertical plane D-D so as to continue to shift each letter engaged vertically between these operative portions in the direction of arrow f4.

These pairs of belts are supported between two pairs of pulleys 186 and 181 whose axes are inclined. The pulleys are driven in rotation by the pulley 177 of the conveyor 172 through the medium of a gear 182 in mesh with a gear 183 (FIGS. 13 and 14).

Located below the upper end of the second conveyor is a trough 184 whose base has an opening 185 which is so disposed as to direct any letter dropped therein by the belts 178 and 179 into the cup of the desired row, pertaining to the station B in question, of the carriage which passes at that instant below the trough.

(c) Electromagnetic Devices and Their Electric Circuits Each of the keys 97 of the keyboard 96 controls the various electromagnetic devices and their circuits through the medium of a key relay E controlling various contacts.

The following will be examined in turn:

The control device of the key relays E.

The control device of the arrythmic cycle cam shaft 85 of each operator station B.

The regulation of the feed of the letters in the operator station B.

The temporary storage of the letters, if the rate of work of the operator is too high, and the restoring of these letters to the sorting out circuit.

The electromagnetic transcoding device of the emitted code.

The regulation and storage of the transcoded code in synchronism with the regulation and the storage of the letters.

(c1) Control Device of the Key Relays (FIG. I5)

Each key 97 of the keyboard of each operator station B is returned to its inoperative position of rest by a spring 186 as soon as it ceases to be depressed. It is connected to a switch 187 which is connected in series with a coil 188 of the relay E of the corresponding key. This coil is connected, for example, to the positive terminal (-1-) of a source of current, whereas the switch 187 is connected to the other terminal The armature 189 of the relay E is adapted to actuate a series of contacts which will be described hereinafter and among these a re-feed or maintenance circuit contact 190. All the contacts 190 pertaining to the various relays E are connected to this second terminal through the medium of a conductor 191 which is controlled by a switch 192. This switch is opened by a cam 193 (see also FIG. 11) in opposition to the action of a closing spring 194. This cam 193 comprises a single boss which is so set on the arrhythmic shaft 85 that, in rotating in the direction of arrow f5, this cam opens only the general switch 192 at the end of one complete rotation of the shaft 85.

Thus, as soon as a key 97 is depressed, the corresponding relay E is excited by the switch 187 and then maintained excited when the key is released by the maintenance switch 190 until the end of one complete rotation of the shaft 85.

In this way, the memory of each depressed key is conserved in the form of the excitation of the corresponding relay (188, 189), so long as the shaft 85 has not opened the switch 192 at the end of one complete rotation.

(c2) Control Device of `the Arrhyt/zmc Cycle Com Shaft 85 (Lower Part of FIG. 15)

It will lbe recalled that this shaft is braked when stationary by an electromagnetic brake having a coil 95, and can be coupled to the driving shaft 90 (FIG. 11) by an electromagnetic clutch having a coil 92 for the purpose of effecting a complete rotation in a time t T.

These two coils 92 and 95 (FIG. 15), which are directly connected to one of the terminals (-1-) of the source of current, can be connected to the other terminal alternately by a contactor 194 connected to this other terminal by a conductor 195. A spring 196 tends to maintain the lever of the contactor in the position for feeding the coil 95 of the brake electromagnet. To feed the coil 92 of the clutch electromagnet, there is provided an auxiliary relay F whose armature is connected to the lever of the switch 194, whereas the coil 197, to be excited, requires the successive depression of any two but ditferent keys 97 of the keyboard, the coding being composed by this double depression, as will be explained hereinafter.

The coil 197 of the auxiliary relay F connected directly to one of the terminals (-1-) is connected to a conductor 198 that any one of a rst series of contactors 199, controlled by the key relays E at the rate of one per key, permits connecting, by its closure, to a third conductor 200. The latter in turn can be connected to the conductor 195 by any one of a series of switches 201 which are controlled in the same way as the contactors 199 are by the key relays E.

Thus when all the keys 97 are in their inoperative positions of rest, the relay F is not excited and the spring 196 ensures through the medium of the switch 194 the feed of current to the brake coil 95 of the arrhythmic cycle shaft 8S.

On the other hand, as soon as two keys are depressed, the corresponding key relays E reverse the switches 199 and 201 connected to their armatures and the relay F is excited, for example by way of the circuit d197e i-j if the second and the last key 97 are actuated.

The coil 92. thus ensures the engagement of the clutch whereas the brake is released. The shaft 85 effects in the period of time t one complete rotation in the direction of arrow f5. At the end of this rotation, the cam 193, due to the opening of the switch 192, cease to excite the previously excited key relay E; their armatures are released and in returning the switches 199 and 29; to their positions of rest` they cease to excite the clutch electromagnet 1.2 and once again excite the brake electromagnet. The shaft therefore stops at the end of one complete rotation in such position that the boss of the cam 193 has once more just left the switch 192, which therefore once more closes and is ready for a further excitation of the key relays E.

(c3) Device Regulating the Feed of the Letters in an Operator Station B. (FIG. 76)

As will be recalled, the shaft 81 of each operator station B (FIG. il) effects one rotation in the course of the period of time T corresponding to the movement through. one pitch p of the endless conveyor. Four pairs G, H, I, J' of cams 292-293 (FIGS. 1l and 16) for instance are keyed on the shaft 81.

All these cams, which are assumed to rotate in the direction of the arrows (FIG. 16), have a single boss. The bosses 294- cf the cams 292 are each so arranged as to close during a period of time equal to corresponding to a quarter of a rotation, two contacts 205', 296 (the contacts 286 are only concerned with the storage of the letters, described in detail hereinafter; further, these contacts are shown in the lower half of FIG. 16 in their actual positions in the circuits they control).

The bosses 284 of the cams 202 are angularly offset 98 from one another relative to the axis of the shaft 81 from the pair G to the pair I, so that these cams close their switches at instants starting from the instant To at the beginning of a cycle, that is, while each carriage substitutes one of its cups of a given row for the cup of the same row of the preceding carriage, each contact opening as the following contact closes.

The switches 295 connect in parallel the coils 287 of the four regulating relays Kg, Kb, Ki and KJ' to a conductor 208 which is supplied with current through the medium of a switch 299 controlled by a cam 210 having a single closing boss. This cam 210 (FIG. 1l) is keyed on the arrhythmic cycle shaft 85 which, it will be recalled, effects one complete rotation in the period of time t T. The setting of the cam is such that it closes the switch 299 at the beginning of the rotation of the shaft 85 which rotation is caused, as explained hereinbefore, by the excitation of the clutch electromagnet and the de-excitation of the brake electromagnet following on two successive depressions of two different keys 97 of the keyboard which corresponds to an emission of the code.

The boss of the cam 210 has a short circumferential development so that the duration of the closure of the switch 299 is less than (nown electrical or mechanical means, not illustrated, are provided to prevent the excitation of two consecutive regulation relays K for each rotation of the shaft 85, that is, for each coding operation effected by successive depressions of two `keys of the keyboard.

Each regulation relay K for instance, consisting of the coil 287 and the armature 211 and excited by coincidence of the closures of the corresponding switch 2.05 and of mastic switch 289, and of an auxiliary switch 205e controlled by the preceding relay K, in order that it is closed only when said relay is not excited, so that it is impossible for two consecutive relays to be excited by rotation of shaft 85, that is to say for each coding operation (FIG. 16). Each relay is automatically re-fed by a conductor 212 through a switch 213 opened by the cam 293 of the same pair of cams and another switch 214 in series connected to the armature 211.

13 Thus it can be seen that for one cycle of the shaft 81 and a movement p of the conveyor between times To and Tl-the cam 210 being regulated so as to close the switch 259 a very short time after the beginning of the rotation of the shaft 85 and the instant of the starting up of this shaft occuring in any one of the four intervals of time of a cycle of rotation of the shaft y35m-a very short period of time after this starting of shaft 85 the cam 202 one of the pairs of cams G, H, I or I maintaining the corresponding switch 205 closed, the corresponding relay Kg Kj is excited. It remains excited until the opening of the switch 213 by the cam 203 of the pair of cams whose cam 202 effected the excitation.

Consequently, excitation of any one of the relays K constitutes an electromagnetic memory of the position, at the instant of this excitation, of any cup relative to the position of this cup at the instant To, this distance being between O and p/4, p/4 and p/2, p/2 and 3p/2 or 317/2 and p following the instant of the starting up of the shaft `85, that is, that at which the coding operation was stopped by the operator, the latter having depressed two successive different keys of the keyboard.

In this example, four intermediate positions of a cup are thus memorized, but it will be understood that it is possible to memorize a greater or smaller number of intermediate positions of a cup, since it is sucient to provide the same number of pairs of cams 202, 203` and the same number of relays K.

The electromagnets 133 and 154, which actuate respectively the flap 126 and that of the aps 150, 151 or 152 of the moving storage device C (FIG. l2) which is situated, at the instant in question, in line with the vertical passageway, are fed through the medium of any one of the four regulation relays K (Kg-K5) in the following manner (FIG. 16).

The coils of these electromagnets 133 and 154, which are connected directly to a terminal (-1-), are also connected to the other terminal by one or the other of two conductors 215 and 216 and a common conductor 217 which is connected, for each regulation relay, to the conductors 215 and 216 by a common switch 218 closed by the excitation of the corresponding relay K and one or the other of two switches 219 and 220 which are in parallel and are controlled by cams 221 and 222 having a single boss.

Thus there are four pairs of cams 221, 222 keyed on the shaft 81 (FIG. ll) and their bosses are so set as to excite the electromagnets 133 and 154 at given instants, bearing in mind the staggering relative to the instant To taken to be the origin of the rhythmic cycle of the precise instant when, the operator having composed the code, the shaft 85 starts to move.

From this instant on, which therefore occurs in one of the four intervals of time between the instants To and T1, the letters drop through the passageway of the corresponding station B under the following conditions (FIG. 12).

The shaft S5 starts to effect one rotation. As soon as it has rotated through the first few degrees, the cam 132 opens the flap 125 and the letter L4-the address of which had been read off and codified by the operator by depressing two keys-drops successively onto the ap 126 and then onto the flap 150, for example, which flaps open successively-owing to the excitation of their electromagnets 133 .and 154, and reaches the ap 134 and then the flap 135, which ilaps are in turn opened successively, and with a certain advance relative to the passage of a cup at a xed reference, by the action of the cams 140 and 141 so that the letter which falls onto the conveyor 172 is conveyed or fed by the latter and the conveyor (.178- 179) following the conveyor 172, toward the trough 184 14 (FIGS. 1-3, 13 and 14) through which it reaches at the right moment the cup of the row of one of the carriages which corresponds to that of the station B in question.

(c4) Device Controlling` the Temporary Storage of the Letters and Their Restoration to the Sorting Out Circuit (FIGS. 16-19) It will be recalled that it is the moving storing device C which, by means of its three hoppers 147, 148, 149 and their flaps 150, 151, 152, ensures these operations under the control of three electromagnets 166, 167 and 156. Their excitation circuits, controlled by the regulation relays K (207, 211) and the second switches 206 controlled by the cams 202, are the following (at the bottom of FIG. 16).

The three electromagnets are connected to one of the terminals of the source of current and a conductor 223 is connected to the other terminal. This conductor is connected, on the one hand, to a point M by contactors 224 in series, each of which is controlled by one of the regulation relays K, and on the other hand, to the coil 227 of a time relay N, by the set of contactors 224, auxiliary contactors 226 connected to the regulation relays K and the aforementioned switches 206, the contactors 224 and 226, the switches 206 and the conductors 228 and 229 interconnecting them being arranged as shown so that: when no regulation relay K is excited (corresponding to the illustrated position), the point M carries a current, and the time relay N is unexcited; in the course of the excitation of a single regulation relay K, the current is cut olf from the point M and the time relay N is still unexcited; when the two regmlation relays K are excited in the interval of time T o-T 1 due to two rapid successive coding operations, the time relay N is excited and there appears, with a certain time delay, due to the delaying action of this relay, a voltage at the point O which is connected to the same terminal of the source as the conductor 223 through a switch 230 closed by the excitation of the relay N.

The excitation circuits of the electromagnets 164, and 156 are the following:

The electromagnet 164.--Its coil is directly connected to one of the terminals whereas it is connected to the point O through a contactor 231 Whose lever, which is biased by a spring 232 against the stud connected to the coil 166, can be separated mechanically by the rack 16) at the end of its travel toward the left, and a switch 233 actuated by a cam having a single boss 234 keyed on the rhythmic cycle cam shaft 81 (FIG. ll).

The electromagnet 165.-It is connected in a similar manner to the point M through a switch 235 actuated by the rack 161 at the end of its travel toward the right, and a switch 236 closed by a cam 237 keyed on the shaft 81 (FIG. 11).

Electromagnet 156.--It is connected to the point O through the aforementioned switch 233 and the contactor 231 at the end of the movement toward the left of the rack 160.

The storage and restoration of the stored letters is effected in the following manner:

The normal rate of work for the operator corresponds to one coding per rhythmic cycle, that is, in an interval of time T, such as To-T1 for example. At this rate, no more than the regulation of the letters described hereinbefore occurs.

If the rate is higher, this signies that a letter arrives in the vertical passageway that the machine cannot deal with, at any rate immediately. The point O is then put under tension by the excitation of the time relay N, the electromagnet 166 is excited, the storing device C is displaced transversely an extent corresponding to the width across a hopper and assumes the position shown in FIG. 17. A letter is retained at L8 in the compartment or hopper 147.

If the rate once more becomes normal, the letter L9 follows the normal path.

It 'the same conditions recur, the storing device C .is once more shifted and assumes the position shown in FIG. 18; the second letter L9 isthen retained in the hopper L43; the storage device is .full. At this moment the switch 231 is reversed by the abutment of the rack 16d against its switch lever, and, if the conditions mentioned hereinbefore recur, it is the electromagnet 156 which is excited.

The ilap 155 opens (FIG. 19) and the third excess letter is discharged from the sorting out circuit into the compartment 157 where the letters thus eliminated are withdrawn from time to time and subsequently returned to the sorting out circuit.

The discharge of a letter would be furthermore very rare, since it implies that the operator works 1.5 times faster than the maximum speed, and in this case one letter out of five is discharged.

If, when the device C is in the position shown in FiG. 17 or 1S and, owing to a slowing down of the rate of work of the operator, the rhythmic rate shaft 81 effects one rotation without any coding operation, the current is supplied at M and the electromagnet 167 is excited. The storing device C returns to the extent of the width of one hopper toward the right and the or one of the stored letters is put back into the sorting out circuit. The cam 81 and the contact 236 control the moment of the return movement of the magazine. The contact 233 and the cam 234 control the moment of the forward movement. The switch 235 stops the return movement of the device C when it has returned to the normal initial position shown in FIGS. 12 and 16.

(c5) Electromagnetic Code Translating Device (FIG. 20)

This device is arranged for transforming or translating a coding operation, that is, a value of a code emitted by by the ten electromagnets 68 of the indexing devices 67 (FIGS. l, 2 and 13), these electromagnets being excited (when operative) or unexcited (when inoperative) and, secondly, in respect of each cup 34 of each carriage 23 by the ten corresponding rods 51 of the index unit 37 (FIGS. 6, 7, and 9), these rods being in an inner retracted position (position I) or an outer position (position 1I).

The keyboard 96 could be, for example, of the alphabetic type and comprising 25 keys, each key being designated by a different letter. Of course the alphabet comprises 26 letters; however it has been found convenient in practice to dispose the keys 97 in the fashion of the keyboard of a typewriter, having 3 rows of keys for instance (as shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 2, 10, 11, 12). When three rows are used, the number of keys in the rows can be respectively 10, 8, and 7, the total number of keys being 25, according to the example selected. As the emission of a code is ensured by the successive depression of two diiferent keys, the number of possible values of the code emitted by the manual coding operation is equal to the number of arrangements of twenty-ve keys taken in pairs, namely 25 24=600.

The number of arrangements (600) can be further exemplified as follows: the combinations, two by two, of 25 elements such as letters A, B, C, etc. such combinations being for instance: AB or BA; alternatively AC or CA; but each of these pairs of elements counts only for one combination, in which the order of the elements which are combined does not matter. On the other hand, in the matter of arrangements, the order of the elements matters, and in that case combinations AB and BA conlfb' stitute 2 different arrangements. Therefore, the coding possibilities are 25 24 or 600. The combinations of the 25 elements, pair by pair, Would result in only 30() possibilities but this is different from the possibilities for the arrangements; therefore these possibilities (for the 2 different arrangements AB and BA) are, as stated 25 24 or 600.

In FIG. 2O` the rst two and the last two keys of the keyboard have been shown respectively at 97a, 97b 97S', 972.

Each key is connected not only to the switch 187 (FIG. 15) controlling the key relays E but also (FIG. 20) to an opening switch 233a 23SZ and to one or more closing switches 2393, 239b 2392.

The twenty-tive switches 238a 238z are connected in series between two points 240a and 240b. With respect to the switches 23191L 2392, they control the supply of current to the ten code relays Ql-Q10 each of which corresponds to one of the ten possible digits of the receiver code.

These ten relays are divided into two groups Y and Z respectively comprising the relays Ql-Q5 and relays Each of these relays can have one of two states, that is, an excited state and an inoperative unexcited state, and each group can thus provide a number of combinations, this number being equal to 25:32 so that for the two groups the number of possible combinations is If each one of the combinations of each of the groups Y and Z, is designated by one of 25 letters of the alphabet, twenty-five of the thirty-two possible combinations of each of the groups could be used, and if it is arranged that for each emission of a code the first key depressed acts on the first relay group X and the second key on the second group Y, the twenty ve keys would permit obtaining out of 1,024 possible combinations of the ten relays Q a number of arrangements equal to 25 24 or 600. Indeed the cabinet A will provide for a lesser number of compartments 6, for example 300 compartments, and not all these possible combinations would be used.

The keys 97a 97Z of the keyboard are connected to the relays Q by the combination of the switches 239EL 239Z and a reversing switch having two positions, and ve contactors 240 actuated by the armature 241 of a switching relay R having a coil 242.

Contactors 240 connect-through the medium of the conductors 243 and 244 depending on the combinations to be obtained-the coils 245 of the code relays Q to the switches 239al 239Z which in turn connect them, through a conductor 246 and a switch 247 controlled by a cam 248 having a single boss on the shaft 8S, to one of the terminals of the source of current, the coils 245 being directly connected to the other terminal (-1-).

When they are excited, the relays Q close, through the medium of their armatures 249, the three switches 250, 251, and 252.

The switches 250 constitute the maintenance switches of the excitation of the relays after the keys have been released. They connect the coils 245 to the terminal through a conductor 253 and a switch 254e, actuated by a cam 254 having a single boss and mounted on the cam shaft 85.

The switches 251 are connected in parallel between two conductors 255 and 256 and ensure the excitation of the switching relay R, one end of its coil 242 being connected directly to one terminal whereas its other end is connected to the other terminal by way of the conductor 256, one of the switches 251, the conductor 255, a conductor 257 connecting the conductor 255 to the conductor 2409-240, and the switch 247. 

